Deborah Santiago, M.S. ED.
Deborah Santiago, M.S. ED.
Deborah is originally from Kingston, Jamaica and the founder of Caribbean Autism Support for Education (CASE), a non-profit organization with a mission to support teachers, students and families with autism strategies in education.
Deborah worked for the Broward County School District for 35 years. Since 2013, she focused on the study of autism and worked as an autism coach. She successfully spearheaded the start-up and growth of the autism program in a local public school to one of the largest programs within the county.
In addition to supporting teachers and students in the self-contained special education classes, Deborah assisted students with autism in the inclusive setting of the schools she worked at, in all grade levels. She also worked closely with the families of her students, while partnering with community support groups to educate teachers, assistants and families on strategies and best practices for students with autism.
Prior to focusing on Autism Spectrum Disorder, Deborah worked as an Exceptional Student Education Specialist, responsible for the complete process of implementation of individual education plans for students with disabilities.
She has worked as an elementary and special education teacher in Jamaica, Dade and Broward schools for over 40 years and was voted as Teacher of the Year by her peers in 2007 as a second-grade inclusive class teacher, and again in 2015 as an autism coach. She was also the recipient of the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) award for outstanding school partner in 2020.
She has her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from University of South Florida and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
